the young man who grants himself less than eight hours' sleep every
night just robs himself of so much vitality. The loss may not be felt
or noticed at present, but the process of sleeping is only Nature's
banking system of principal and interest. A mind capable of the
fulfilment of its highest duties should be not only receptive to ideas,
but quick to comprehend a point. With a fresh mind and a clear brain, a
young man has two of the greatest levers of success. These cannot be
retained under social indulgences. The dissipation of a night has its
invariable influence upon the work of the morrow. I do not preach total
abstinence from any habits to which human nature is prone. Every man
ought to know what is good for him and what is injurious to his best
interests. An excess of anything is injurious, and a young man on the
threshold of a business career cannot afford to go to the extreme in
any direction. He should husband his resources, for he will need them
all.

For no success is easily made nowadays. Appearances are tremendously
deceptive in this respect. We see men making what we choose to regard
and call quick success, because at a comparatively early age they
acquire position or means. But one needs only to study the conditions
of the business life of to-day to see how impossible it is to achieve
any success except by the very hardest work. No young man need approach
a business career with the idea that success is easy. The histories of
successful men tell us all too clearly the lessons of patience and the
efforts of years. Some men compass a successful career in less time
than others. And if the methods employed are necessarily different, the
requirements are precisely the same. It is a story of hard work in
every case, of close application and of a patient mastery of the
problem in hand. Advantages of education will come in at times and push
one man ahead of another. But a practical business knowledge is apt to
be a greater possession.

* * * * *

I know there are thousands of young men who feel themselves incompetent
for a business career because of a lack of early education. And here
might come in--if I chose to discuss the subject, which I do not--the
oft-mooted question of the exact value of a college education to the
young man in business. But I will say this: a young man need not feel
that the lack of a college education will stand in any respect whatever
in the way of his